VESPA (See Encycl.). A new species of this genus of insects has been lately described by Cuvier, in a note read before the Philomathic Society of Paris. It has some resemblance to the vespa nidulans of Fabricius, which, as is generally known, is a native of certain parts of America. The nests of the vespa nidulans are constructed of a very fine web, of a very solid and pretty white paste. Their form is that of a bell closed upon all sides, excepting a narrow hole at the bottom; and they are suspended from the branches of trees.
The vespa described by Cuvier, which is a native of Cayenne in America, has in general more volume than the preceding species, and its paste is grey, coarser, less homogeneous, and less solid. The bottom of its nest also, in lieu of being shaped funnel-like, is flat, and the orifice appears at one of the sides of the bottom part, and not in the middle. In the country where it is found, this species of wasp is called the tatou fly (mouche tatou). It differs greatly in form from that which Fabricius has described; it is all entirely of a shining black; the first articulation, or joint of its abdomen, is narrow, and in form of a pear; the second, larger than the others, is in form of a bell: the wings are brown. The following is the character assigned to it by Cuvier:
Vespatataua, Nigra, Nitida, Alis fuscis, abdomine pedi- cellato.